Dear Dave:

Islam was born into a culture that was rather militant. If I remember correctly, the primary purpose of Muhammad was to try to unit the bickering and warring Arab peoples. He did that through religion.

This is not unlike what the Catholic Church did in Europe at around the same time in history. The bickering and rather ruthless Lords of Europe needed to be encouraged to treat their peasants better and each other better. Chivalry was introduced to bring a code of honor to the culture.

Muhammad succeeded in bring a kind of unity, but the sons of Ishmael have always been militant. The religion of Hammond did not mitigate that but incorporated it.

Muhammad "borrowed" much from the culture and scriptures of the ancient Jews and as from Catholicism. The problem is that Islam focuses on and Old Testament culture but without the Holy Spirit.

When we look at the stories in the Old Testament, they look pretty bloody and militant until we recognize, for example, that when God told Israel to kill every man, woman, child, and dog of Canaan that God was exercising His right to Judge the nation of Canaan and He merely used Israel as the instrument of His judgment.

The problem with Islam is that they often have this "let us kill all the Canaanites for Allah" culture but they have not actually received the revelation from God to do so. They are without the Holy Spirit and thus their jihads our purely their own, not from God.

To my knowledge Islam has always been militant, has always tried to to take over other countries and to convert by the sword. The Crusades, contrary to popular bigotries, was about protecting Jerusalem and protecting Europe of invading Muslims. The last time I checked defending one self and defending the helpless against marauding invaders is a good thing.

Anyway, what you are describing is a cultural attribute and not a very good one. Frankly the Arab culture is largely a hideous one in my opinion. There are some good aspect of their culture, but this militant aspect, their treatment of women as chattel, and the like is draconian and not of God.

As for individual Muslims, one may find them delightful and often more Christian than Christians in their moral integrity.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary